Lacing closure



Ma y 2]}1929. w, PIPES 1,713,714

LAGING CLOSURE Filed July 24, 1926 Patented May El, 1929.

tries.

WALTER L. PIPES, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE GOODYEARS INDIA RUBBER GLOVE IVIIEG. COMPANY, i333 NAUGATUCK, CONNECTICUT, A GOR- IPOBATION T? CONNECTICUT.

llhllll liilll Slftlhtld LACING CLOSURE.

Application filed. July 2%, 1926. Serial No. 124,760.

This invention relates to a laced closure initially fitted to the requirements of the 50 for footwear. c1v stomcr in as perfect a fashion as the par- Buckles,multiple fasteners,and other types ticular last on which the gaiter has been of closures heretofore proposed, are objecmade permits. Thereafter the ends of the tionable on one or more grounds, such as ap lace are not freed, the gaiter being fastened pearance, lack of adjustment, weight, cost, or loosed by simply slipping the lace over or 55 and diliiculty of manufacture, and all around releasing it from the hook fastening mempracticability for any climate and temper; hers. ture. By the present invention a lacing clolhe invention will best be understood if sure for gaiters is provided which is neat in the following description is read in conappearance, adjustable to any size of cusnection with the accompanying drawings, in (50 ton'ler, of light weight, manufacturable at low which cost and. rapidly and easily, and it is adapta- Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the gaiter ble to the requirements of climate and temwhen closed showing both ends of the lace perature anywhere. fastened to the upper eyes or eyelets with a lVilih the illustrated embodiment in mind finishing flap thrown back. 65 but without intention to limit more than is Fig. 2 is a top view of an external operarequired by the prior art, the invention 0011- tively closed eye member. sists essentially in a combination and an 23 is alongitudinal section of the same.

rangement of a lacing with eyes and hooks Fig. l is a top View of a hook member.

such that after the initial fitting of the lac- Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the same. To ing to the customer the shoe may be complete- Fig. 6 is a modified form of the device ly unfastened by merely disengagin the lace shown in Fig. 1, in which the hooks are supfrom two pairs of hooks near the upper end planted by snap fasteners one element of each of the opening in the gaiter, and vice versa of which is non-removably secured to the for fastening. More particularly the fastenlace.

inn; means consists in part of eyes through Fig. 7 is a top view of a modified form of which a lace is initially reeved, and in part eye member. of hooks of the ordinary kind. The second F 8 is a longitudinal section of the same.

and the fourth pair 'of fastening members, Figs. 9 and 10 are a plan View and longicounting from the top of the gaiter, prefertudinal section, respectively, of a special ably are hooks of the type readily engageable form of snap fastener which may be used or disengageable with the lacing while bein lieu of the hooks.

tween them are a pair of operatively closed Referring first to Fig. l, the gaiter shown eyes constituting a third pair of fastening is slit from the top to a point short of the means. The first or top pair of fastening sole and is provided with a pocket of well- .55

members may be either eyelets extending known form and construction indicated conthrough the fabric of the gaiter or external ventionally at 20 in the rear of the slit eyes. Preferably all of the fastening meinpermitting the gaiter to be expanded for in- .40 bers below the fourth pair are of the external troduction. and removal of the foot. Lacing eye type, with the exception of the last or botmeans is provided consisting of a lace 21 and tom pair of members whicl'i, like the first, a number of pairs of lace engaging members may be either eyelets or external eyes. The alone the opposed edges of the flaps formed sailor is initially laced as tightly as desired by the slit. l Vhile any desired number of 45 by the wearer by reeving the lace through fastening members may be used, for the purthe eves and around the hooks, in the ordipose of illustration seven pairs, numbered t narv manncr. The ends of the lace, instead from the top to the bottom of the gaiter, are of being tied together are initially tied to shown in Fig. 1. Fastening members 2 and the two top eyes or eyelets and thus it is 4 are preferably hooks with which the lace is readily engageable or disengageable at will. Members 3 located between members 2 and 4, and members 5 and 6, are external operatively closed eyes through which the lace is reeved. The members 1 and 7 may be external eye members or eyelet members eX- tending through the fabric of the gaiter, but are preferably of the latter type. The gaiter is initially laced as tightly as desired by the wearer, the lace being threaded through eyelets 7 and its ends reeved through the members 6 and 5, hooked over the members 4, reeved through the members 3, hooked over the members 2 and threaded through and tied to the members 1, the lace being crossed between each pair of fastening members.

Since the ends of the lace are initially secured respectively to the fastening members 1, the operation of knotting together the ends of the lace at the top of the gaiter is eliminated. It will be readily apparent that when the lacing is disengaged from the hook members comprising the second and fourth pairs of fastening means, the slit or opening of the gaiter may be separated completely so as to permit the gaiter to be readily removed, the

slack supplied from the portions of the lace released from the hooks being sufficient to fnrnishand allow enough separation of the lower pairs of eyes 5 and 6. The gaiter may be fastened by first drawing tight on the laces through the mere engaging of the lacing with the hook members 2 and a.

In Fig. 6 a modified form of fastening means is shown, snap members 10 being substituted for the hook members 2 and 4. The eye members 8 are similar to the eye members shown in Fig. 1 except that they conform in shape to the snap members. The snap members each consist of two parts, a fixed part 9 secured to the body of the gaiter, and a free part 10 which is adapted to fit over and fasten to the fixed part in a wellknown manner. The upper part 10 of each snap is provided upon its periphery with a loop 11 by which it is easily threaded on the lace. The free part of each snap member is engageable with the fixed part of the snap oppositely located on the other flap. Since the lace is threaded through the upper parts of the snap members, lacing is accomplished when the snap members are fastened. With this modified form of fastener the gaiter may be closed substantially as above described.

The fastening means disclosed above'provides a quick and easy way of fastening and unloosing overshoes or gaiters and obviates the necessity of tying and untying the ends of the lace whenever the gaiter is put on or removed.

The distance between the pairs of fastening members 2, 3, 4:, and 5, particularly, in the gaiter type overshoe for which the invention is primarily intended is ordinarily so great as to be likely to produce wrinkles at the abutting margins of the cup opening thereof. To prevent such wrinkles and thereby enhance the appearance of the shoe it is preferred to provide some form of stiffening means such as steel stays or wire,.the wire being illustrated in the drawingas indicated at 30. i

It is preferred also to provide for gaping or spreading apart of the upper end of the openingof the overshoe by providing positive means for closing the same, such for instance, as the flap 31 which is preferably permanently secured by stitching as indicatedat'32 near the top of the shoe, a snap fastener, as indicated at 33 and 34 respectively, being provided for securing the other end of the strip to the other side of the opening. And preferably also, strip 31 is located so as to conceal the knotted or otherwise permanently secured end of the lace.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: V

1. A lacing closure for footwear having an opening for facilitating introduction and removal of the foot, comprising a lace having its ends permanently secured to the opposite sides respectively of the opening adjacent the top of the shoe, a series of members for holding the lace in. crisscross relation on the outside of the shoe, said members including a pair of eyes permanently secured to the opposite sides of the opening and through which the lace is passed, pairs of members above and below said pairs of eyes by which the lace may be separably secured to opposite sides of the opening and means for stiffening the edges of the opening to preventwrinkles.

2. A lacing closure for footwear having an opening for facilitatingintroduction and removal of the foot, comprising a lace permanently secured to the sides of the opening adjacent the top of the shoe, a series of members for holding the lace in criss-cross rela tion on the outside of the shoe, said members including a pair of eyes permanently secured to the opposite sides of the opening and through which the lace is passed, pairs of members above and below said pairs of eyes by which the lace may be separably secured to opposite sides of the opening, means for stiffening the edges of the opening to prevent wrinkles, and means independent of the lace adapted to span the opening and positively secured on opposite sides thereof.

3; A lacing closure for footwear having an opening for facilitating introduction and removal of the foot, comprising a lace permanently secured to the sides of the opening adjacent the top of the shoe, a series of members for holding the lace in criss-cross relation on the outside of the-shoe, said members including a pair of eyespermanently secured to the opposite sides of the opening and through which the lace is passed, pairs of members above and below said pairs of eyes last named means located to conceal the upby Which the lace may be separably secured per secured ends of the lace. to opposite sides of the opening, means for Signed at New York, county of New York, 10 stiffening the edges of the opening to pre- State of New York, this 13th day of July,

5 vent Wrinkles, and means independent of the 1926.

lace adapted to span the opening and positively secured on opposite sides thereof, said "WALTER L. PIPES. 

